The apartment Janet Torres shares with her husband and daughter in the Bronx may soon become too small for them, and not because they are expecting another child. Rather, it is because of the economic crisis that the Puerto Rican government is currently experiencing. Most of Torres’ family from the island may soon pack their bags and come to New York seeking work.

“They say, ‘I can’t let too much time pass, because when people don’t have much money left, what do you expect them to do? Steal from each other?’” said Torres, a student at Boricua College who has been living in New York for six years.

Torres’ two sisters are part of the 95,000 professionals that lost their jobs on Monday when the island government declared a partial administrative shutdown of 43 public agencies due to a deficit of $740 million in the commonwealth’s budget.

“They want to see quick results, but the island is small. If the government isn’t working, what will happen? They’ll have to emigrate,” lamented Torres.

And this wouldn’t be the first time it has happened.

According to the political analyst and civil rights lawyer Juan Cartagena, the current situation is very similar to what happened in Puerto Rico in the 1940s and 1950s.

In that era, Governor Luis Muñoz Marín instituted “Operation Bootstrap” to reduce the number of poor people in Puerto Rico, offering incentives to Puerto Ricans who traveled to New York seeking work.

“Now there is the possibility that a new wave of immigration will start with all these professionals that lost their jobs,” said Cartagena.

Cartagena also notes that the current crisis is also due to the fact that 40 to 45 percent of the jobs on the island are generated by the government.

“That’s why no one should be surprised if Puerto Rican elections are intense, because the possibility of being employed and/or surviving economically originates completely with the government. Such a high percentage of people depending on the government is unhealthy in any economy,” he concluded.